Exploring Quito: Day 2

 

There is not so much to  tell about our explorations today. We got a late start after catching up on things back home in the morning.

 When we finally headed out, we took a taxi to Quicentro - a shopping mall. Not really our style, but two friends had independently recommended the Crepes and Waffles restaurant on the third floor of the mall. The food was very good. Michael and I both got a savory crepe, then shared the "dulce" crepe pictured to the right.  Michael also got a mango juice that might as well have been a dessert! After a quick stop at the ATM, we walked across the street to Parque La Carolina. It is a very large park, and the above picture is taken from the middle of it facing the buildings lining its east side. Our adventure to the mall and this park was very different from the rest of our experience in Quito, because most of our experience up to this point has been in Oldtown. It was good to see the different neighborhood and have a more complete picture of Quito and Ecuador. Also, we had fun just wandering in the park and enjoying the entertainment it offered us. We swang on the swing (swang is the past tense of swing?) and looked at the old airplane on display. Michael said it is one of the first plane models to be designed to carry passengers. Now, it is all painted as an art display.. why didn't i take pictures?! oh.. maybe because it was surrounded by a chain link fence.

The park also had a large paved oval that I think must have been for running work outs. There were meters marked off every hundred. At another place they had made something like a canal/moat system for people to take out paddle boats. Somewhere along our walk, we saw a boy crying and calling for his mom - he was maybe 3 or 4. At first we were appalled and worried, as we couldn't see anyone that might be his mom. Then we spotted a couple hiding behind a tree. As we walked past, the came out and called the boy to them. Maybe they were teaching him a lesson to not wander? It made me think of times when I had been so busy in my own world, reading or watching people that when I looked up I couldn't see anyone in my family.. very scary. Ha! And thinking about being left behind - I remember when we were little, if mom started the van before Liz was in it, she would start crying.

Overall, it was a relaxing day. Relaxing vs. Exciting... a vacation should have some of both, right? Tomorrow we plan to take a 2 hour bus ride to Mindo. It will just be a day trip, because tomorrow night we take the bus all night to Lago Agrio to start our jungle trip.

Exploring Quito: Day 1

Hello from Quito! The hostal where we are staying is very comfortable and the people who run it offer dinner for $5 (sign up by 2pm) and breakfast for $2.50. I am currently eating breakfast #2, and it is just as delicious - no, MORE delicious, than yesterday. Both mornings I've wished I had my camera to take a picture to let everyone see the beautiful, fresh fruit we are being served. Mango, kiwi, strawberry, banana, apple. Today there is avocado spread on our breakfast sandwich of egg, tomato, and onion.  Yesterday with the eggs we had a small glass of yogurt drink (like Kefir or something).

Michael dislikes reading maps on the street

After breakfast yesterday, our first stop was at a travel agency (CarpeDM) to see about a trip to the jungle or the Galapagos. Our choice was between a 5 day trip to the islands for $1400, everything included, even airfare and a 4 day trip to the jungle for $210. We decided that if we go to the Galapagos, we won't go back and really we want to have a complete experience with scuba diving and everything. We will have to plan another trip to ecuador (to brush up on spanish maybe?) and plan ahead to spend a good chunk of time out to sea.

So Saturday night we are getting on an overnight bus to go to the jungle. Our 4 days officially start on Sunday, which is mostly traveling by car and canoe to get deeper into the "primary" forest. We then stay in an established camp with cabins and make trips out (hiking in the jungle, canoeing on the river to fish for piranhas, up a bird tower). We will be back late Wednesday night, and won't have internet access while we are there.

 Our next stop was Basilica del Voto Nacional. We had been told that the best part of visiting the Basilica was climbing its towers - so that is what we did. Most of the stairs were nice and normal stairwells, but both in the bell (clock) tower and the steeple (on the right in the picture), there were steep, heart-pounding ascents for the last bit to the top. The steepest part of the bell tower (a series of 3 ladders) was closed, so we didn't get our adrenaline pumping as much as we might have. Here is a link to the picasa album I have started for Ecuador, where you can see more of our pictures from the Basilica and other things I didn't include.
https://picasaweb.google.com/104486736070540446376/13Ecuador?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPShtJHd4ZHnIQ&feat=directlink

 I didn't get any pictures from Museo de Arte: Precolombino Colonial Moderno - the museum of Oswaldo Guayasamin. Michael says he did, so maybe I'll upload some later. He only got the outside - the layout of the grounds and building. This is interesting because Guayasamin's own mansion is above the museum (that he designed). If you could tell from the Spanish title I gave you, Guayasamin's art is modern art. Michael and I discussed how modern art can sometime be abstract enough that it doesn't look like it took talent to create it. It does, however, connect with people emotionally in a way that realistic looking paintings don't. It takes a talented artist, connected with his or her own emotions, to communicate feeling. Guayasamin was an advocate for the indigenous people, and his art depicted human and social inequalities. He died in 1999, before his museum was completed in 2002.

We had to wait quite a while to find a taxi to get back from the museum (it was on the edge of town), but eventually we found ourselves back in the middle of Oldtown at Plaza Grande. Michael was more comfortable looking at the guidebook on the bench in the plaza, so we sat and made a plan. Unfortunately, you know how the best laid plans of mice and men can go... We made it to the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus just fine, but after that our plan was to go to a restaurant that we could NOT find. I'll tell you about our adventure following the lost restaurant after I tell you about the church. La Compania was built in the baroque style (which means excessive decoration) and it looks like it is completely covered in gold leaf. The church was commissioned by the Jesuits, and construction started in 1605. It opened for worship 13 years alter, but wasn't completed until 1765 *160 years later* (because of all the decoration that had to be done). Unfortunately, an earthquake in 1868 caused the bell tower to come down. It still has not been replaced. The bells are currently on ground level and we took our picture by one. Another earthquake in 1987 damaged the church itself, and when reconstruction was finally underway in 1996, a fire happened and destroyed one alcove near the front. It was interesting to see where they had fixed it by putting new gold leaf on - you could tell it was brighter than the other gold leaf that had been there for 200 years. The story we found most interesting was of Mariana de Jesus. She is the first person canonized from Ecuador. She was beatified in 1853 and she became a saint in 1950. She was born in 1618, and at 27 publicly offered herself as a victim for the city (the year 1645 held earthquakes and plagues for Quito). The story is that shortly after she died, a white lily sprang up from her blood, blossomed, and bloomed. She can be called, "The Lily of Quito" for this reason.

Once we were done at the church and realized we couldn't find the original restaurant, I convinced Michael that we could walk up the hill to Cafe Mosaico and have dinner overlooking the city. We had to walk past a busy bus station. This made Michael nervous because it was at a bus station that he and Melissa got robbed in Tanzania. Once past the bus station, the uphill climb began. At first it was steeply inclined streets, but later the incline was too steep for cars and all that was left was concrete stairs between houses. Again, I thought we should go on up and Michael obliged. The stairway started out okay, but quickly became sketchy as it zig-zagged across the hill. On one landing, three men had squatted - they had a carpet down on the steps and a tattered blanket/tarp strung from railing to railing to make a roof. We trudged through, with "lo siento" from both sides. That wasn't the worst from that first stairway. Almost every landing had a smell of feces (michael thought the smell was from something the men were smoking at first), and I saw a pile of poop with a diameter that could only have come from a human anus. We made it out without vomiting, but felt lost when we came to the cross road. I spotted a balcony with people seated at tables further up, and we decided we had to brave a second stairway. This one was straight (no zigs or zags), wide, and it was still daylight.

We made it up without further events, though I was breathing heavily as we walked down the road to the cafe. The view of the city was incredible, and we made it in time to see the last of the sunset.

The restaurant was a little more pricey, but the food was good. And we realized as they started bringing it that we could have split a dish. Instead, we'll have leftovers for dinner tonight!

Unfortunately, our experience at Cafe Mosiaco was tainted by it being very busy and our waitress not being able to attend to us. We sat and sat and sat when we were done eating, and couldn't even get the waitress to look at us so we could say, "la cuenta, por favor" much less "pienso que no podemos comer todo - tiene cosa portatil para la comida?"

When we were ready to leave, they called a taxi but it was taking too long. We found another group of 5 Americans and braved yet another stairway (you think we would have learned) to go down the hill.

I think that is all from yesterday. I'll add brief captions to the photos on picasa if you are interested. 

Hello Everyone! We made it! This is the first picture we took, while still in the airport.

We are currently staying at the Community Hostel, which is a very cool place and there are some cool people that are sharing good information with us as we sit around.

This is just a short note to say we are here and to get everyone connected with the blog. More later!

Love,
Andrea (and michael)

M4 year: interviews (part 2)

Statue outside public library in Denver

Art museum in Denver

The excitement after Thanksgiving all happened further west. I interviewed in Denver and visited the downtown public library while I was there. Since I was there by myself and only for 2 days, there weren’t many other adventures.

 

View from the hike Whitney and I took Saturday morning

Snowshoeing (right across the ski slopes)

 After Denver, I headed for Chewelah, WA to visit my friend from BVU.  Whitney (Lyon) Kuefler was my roommate my senior year and it was awesome to see where she and Joe live and work. I flew into Spokane, rented a car, and drove about an hour north to the small town where they live. Chewelah and Colville (where they work) are surrounded Colville National Forest. It was interesting to learn a bit about the logging industry. Whitney and Joe work for a company that makes wood and pellet stoves (or fireplace inserts) and many people in the area use those type of devices to help heat their homes. The stoves/inserts are more efficient than just a fireplace. Whitney also talked about the state politics of Washington and how in the east people get frustrated because laws are made for the state in Seattle and they feel like the people that make the laws do not really understand how life is in the eastern half of Washington and how the law will affect them. She gave an example of wolf reintroduction/protection. The campaign in Seattle is “save the wolf” and the rural communities in the east do not agree because the wolves kill their livestock.

Yurt we registered to go snowshoeing at

Whitney on the ridge

 Whitney and I did a lot of awesome things while I was there. We went for a walk/hike up the “backyard” hill on Saturday morning. Then later on Saturday we went to an ugly sweater Christmas party hosted by some people from their work. On Sunday after church, we went up to 49° North, the local ski resort. Joe hit the slopes, while Whitney and I broke out some snowshoes and went trekking in freshly falling snow. We left from the yurt seen in the picture, and went 4 km one way (if I am remembering correctly). We made it to Moose something-or-other corner and I would have loved it to see a moose in the wild (in the distance, of course)… Some of the xc skiers said they had seen a moose and they reported there were lots of fresh tracks. Of course I wasn’t that lucky, but it was fun and good exercise too. My calves were incredibly sore the next day.

I left Washington early on Monday morning and arrived in Boise around noon. (After a layover in Salt Lake City - I think that airport might be my favorite so far!) The gentleman we were set up with through the HOST (Help Our Students Travel) program picked me up at the airport. Dr. Rod Miller graduated from med school at Iowa in ’58 after going to St. Olaf college where he had met his wife, Lois. He did an intern year, spent some time in CO, did surgery in Vietnam, but spent most of his years working in Sac City, IA as a general physician. He and his wife moved out to Boise 15 years ago to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren. Unfortunately, Lois Miller passed away this summer from cancer. It was an invaluable opportunity to get to know a physician who exhibited such a model professional AND personal life, and my only regret is that we were unable to meet and get to know Lois as well. 

Michael and Dr. Miller near McCall

Dr. Miller kept us on a pretty tight social schedule. We saw and did many things in Boise, as well as venturing out into other areas of Idaho (really just one trip out to Lake McCall and their nearby cabin – but the 2 hour drive to get there was almost as important as the destination).

On Monday after I arrived, we went for a walk on the “greenbelt” – a paved bike/walk way along the river that goes through Boise. I was told the total distance you could go on the greenbelt as 26 miles. Somewhere along that walk we stopped at a nature conservatory. There were protected habitats and aquarium exhibits about the salmon’s life cycle. I was impressed when I looked down over the railing by how clear the water was in the pond I was walking over. The water had been diverted from the river and Dr. Miller said the river’s water is similarly clear. He thought that, when comparing it to the Mississippi, it more clear because it comes down from snowmelt in the mountains over rocks instead of dirt and it just doesn’t have the same muddiness to it. 

Tuesday, Michael and I ate the oatmeal Dr. Miller prepared for us before leaving for the Y (this was a daily occurrence, and high quality oatmeal with fruit and nuts – a great way to start the day!) The next thing we did was visit Idaho’s capitol building, where Dr. Miller’s granddaughter was singing with her classmates for school. After Josephine sang, Natalie (her mom) showed us around the building. Natalie is an interior decorator and she helped with the remodeling that was recently completed. It isn’t very big, but the floors and columns and, well, basically the entire main hall is marble. They also added wings on either side of the main building – the interesting part of the wings is that they are underground (in order to keep the above ground aesthetics of downtown pleasing). They don’t feel like dungeons and are actually quite pleasant, thanks to the natural light coming in from the skylights. 

Boise is in a high desert plain

We studied at the Library! (that’s what is on the sign – exclamation point and all) in the afternoon, and then went to “international club” for dinner. International club is a gathering of people in Boise who have an interest in other cultures and world events. The feature for that night was the former ambassador to Mali who spoke about Niger and the politics of Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa and the role of those politics in Al Qaeda’s presence in Africa. The parts that didn’t go flying over my head were interesting (even though I wouldn’t really remember well enough to speak intelligently with you if you wanted a recap). Before the talk, there was a fancy dinner of salmon with cheesecake for dessert. There was plenty of time to socialize, and I met a retired plastic surgeon. He still works once a week with the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho, doing a minor procedures clinic. He had traveled numerous times to Pakistan with a non-profit organization and during one of his trips he met Greg Mortensen (author of Three Cups of Tea). He defended Mr. Mortensen to me, saying it is too bad his reputation has taken a hit because he believes him to be a good man. I also learned that before becoming a plastic surgeon, he was a dentist, and cared for Elvis Presley’s teeth.  What a life!

View from back porch of Dr. Miller's cabin

Wednesday was not so interesting. We spent 9 hours taking tests. Dinner was the best, where we met DJ and her husband for dinner. DJ is a very outspoken woman, and it was good entertainment for us post test. She was blunt, as evidenced by her direct complaints about the browned avocado in her salad, her statement that Dr. Miller must have had a rough time in Vietnam because he doesn’t talk about it much, and her prying question to Michael – “Well, are you giving her a ring for Christmas?” (To which Michael said “None of your business!”)

We did go up and see the woodwork of DJ’s husband, who had made much of the furniture in their house. Michael was very impressed, and excited to start his own woodworking project. 

Lake McCall

Thursday was the day we drove out to McCall. There is nothing I can tell you that can’t be said with pictures, so I’ll spare you more tedious words. 

And Friday, our last functional day in Boise, was interview day followed by get-to-know-you social with the residents and faculty of the program. We had a really fun time at the interview, the other applicants were really cool and made the day relaxed and entertaining. 

 

 

That concludes my interview travels. I ended on December 15^th, then went home and spent a few days packing and getting ready to be gone for 3 months.

M4 year: interviews (part 1)

Besides graduation, here are many experiences that are shared by all fourth year medical students: completing a sub-internship, scrambling to write a personal statement and deciding who the perfect letter writers will be, sitting for Step 2 CK, showing fake empathy for fake patients in CS testing, interviewing all over the country, organizing and re-organizing rank lists, and opening the special envelope on Match Day. After taking CK and having my last interview in the same week (Wednesday and Friday respectively), I feel like I am finally in the home stretch to finishing medical school. Man, does it feel good! And best of all, what I have left this year are the fun and exciting things. 

(side note: this is the last picture of the year of Michael with a clean-shaven face!)

What could be more fun and exciting than finishing 4 grueling years of school? 6 weeks in Ecuador, nearly as long in Tanzania, finding out where I will be for the next 3 years of my life, and a sailing vacation in the British Virgin Islands. Not to mention the normal amount of weddings and social gatherings that sprinkle spring and early summer. In order to make my scattered-brain life more coherent, I'm going to attempt to make regular dumps of information in a place where it can  be referenced by friends and family (and myself!). 

My first dump of information will also help with the organizing and re-organizing of rank lists. Let's start with a list of the residency programs that I have interviewed with, in chronological order. 

Via Christi in Wichita, Kansas (Oct 5)
Broadlawns in Des Moines, IA (Oct. 22)
University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA (Nov. 2)
University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI (Nov 12)
John Peter Smith (JPS) in Fort Worth, TX (Nov 15)
University of Minnesota, St. Joseph's in St. Paul, MN (Nov 19)
University of Minnesota, Duluth in Duluth, MN (Nov 20)
Community Health Network in Indianapolis, IN (Nov 26)
St. Vincent in Indianapolis, IN (Nov 27)
Exempla St. Joseph in Denver, CO (Dec 6)
Family Medicine Residency of Idaho in Boise, ID (Dec 15)

Now, lets hear about which ones are NOT our favorite. Michael didn't interview in the Twin Cities, so U of M St. Joe's is out. Indianapolis doesn't have enough draw to take us out of Iowa, so those two are out. I'm not excited about doing all of my training in an academic hospital, so the University of Iowa has dropped pretty low. Michael did not like Madison's IM, so we won't be going to Wisconsin. The remaining list:

Via Christi
Broadlawns
JPS
Duluth
Denver
FMRI in Boise
 
Michael is leaning towards doing internal medicine, so Broadlawns and Denver shake out to the top, as Michael likes the IM programs in Denver and Des Moines. If he were to decide to do family medicine, it comes down to Via Christi, Boise, and JPS, as Duluth's medicine didn't impress us very much when we interviewed there. 

And that's the summary of where we stand.  Last of all, I'd like to mention the places we visited and people we saw that were not part of a residency program.

Wichita: I stayed with Sarah Moore and her great dane named Pete. I had never really hung out with a great dane before, and it was fun to play with a dog almost as big as I am! Also, Sarah and I stayed up late one night talking about relationships and about good devotionals. 

Michael and I ventured out on Saturday after the interview and went to the zoo, even though the temperature had taken a nose dive from the day before. 

 

Wisconsin: after the interview in Madison, Michael and I drove north to Steven's Point and visited Erin Ruff. I don't have any pictures,  but there is a video we helped them make by pushing play/record. (http://vimeo.com/53388780) If you don't want to watch the whole thing, I would recommend just catching the bit at 2:53 and watch the girl in the back.  The other big thing that happened in Wisconsin is that Michael finally caved and bought an iPhone. His iPod touch died, and he wanted something for point of care in the clinic. It turned out to be perfect timing, as we used the navigation system to keep us from getting lost during all our travels.


Texas: The residency put us up in a small bed and breakfast downtown called Etta's Place. It is located on Sundance Square. The person for who it is named was Etta Place, who was the Sundance Kid's girlfriend and hung out with Butch Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall Gang of train robbers. When we first got to the bed and breakfast, we had to ring a bell and wait for them to come downstairs and let us in. Each of the rooms is unique in its furnishings, and there is a cozy library, a patio, and balcony with drinks at the top of a spiral staircase. I enjoyed a relaxing bath with jets for my birthday!

   
After the interview, we stayed in Texas for two more days to hang out with Michael's brother, Thomas. Thomas had to work one of those days so Michael and I explored his little town on our own and found a Methodist sponsored soup lunch.  We learned that in Texas they don't make the chili with beans automatically, so when they ask if you want beans, they don't mean "do you want extra beans?" With Thomas we played Ticket to Ride, visited a winery, and threw a football around. 

wallaby!!

 

Duluth: While we were visiting Michelle (Liz's best friend from high school) and her boyfriend Ryan in Duluth we had beautiful weather and got to spend a lot of time outside, hiking through the parks and walking along the lake. I loved to imagine what it would be like to live in Duluth, all the great outdoor activities PLUS living down the street from Michelle again. :) 









 


And THAT is what happened BEFORE Thanksgiving. I'll start a second page for the second half of the interview trail story.

new camera

 I've been thinking I want a new camera for about a year. After deciding black friday might be a good time to find a good deal, Michael got into the research. He looked at consumer reports and compared all sorts of specs. Eventually, he found a camera that he felt was the best. I'm lucky to have Michael to do all the grunt work for me, as I'm sure I would have been overwhelmed trying to pick a camera. The part of it that is the most obvious and exciting is the 20x optical zoom and 90x digital zoom. whoa! While I was visiting my friend Whitney in Chewelah, WA (north of Spokane), I took a picture of the view from her backyard, and then took another picture zoomed in on the mountain in the distance. (see below) I don't think I zoomed in all of the way either!