EcuadorSabbatical

I love the sounds of the jungle at night. The cicadas rub their wings together and create a symphony that crescendos and decrescendos and never lets up until morning. An entirely different movement starts in the morning as the birds awaken. My favourite birdsong is the sound of the oropendola, which resembles a huge drop of water popping, and is unmistakable and unique. Being in the depths of the rainforest is a great gift to me, especially since today we drove deep into Yasuni National Park, a supposedly protected area of the forest, but being extensively drilled for oil. It is one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet, and will unfortunately not survive the onslaught of oil exploration, so I am seeing it before it disappears forever. President Correa proposed at one point that for a fee of hundreds of millions of dollars (paid for by western countries) he would halt development of pristine primary forest in the Ecuadorian Amazon. There was in fact an agreement in process, but ul...

I wanted to show off Quito today, to present it at its best, so I made sure to visit my favourite part of the city, the Centro Historico. My friend Debra arrived late last night (most flights appear to arrive in Quito around midnight) to a busy airport. She and Eric recognized each other as she left the baggage area, and they drove home through the empty streets. Debra was shocked that Eric ran all the red lights. The police actually encourage running the red lights at night, because if you stop you are at risk of a carjacking, but the ride home was uneventful. Eric and I took Debra to our salsa class with Jipsum, and she joined us in practicing some of the steps. She was very enthusiastic, and plans to return for more lessons, so will join us again next week. We are all going to Yasuni National Park tomorrow. Eric's students are working at the research station this past week, so while he is engaging in his research, Debra and I will hire a guide and see what we can see. Debra and...

My first day translating at Tierra Nueva worked out wonderfully. I chose to take the 'Trole' and the bus and traveled only an hour to arrive on time. The doctors and nurses were friendly and helpful and appreciative and I felt useful and competent (which I did not expect). I was invited to watch a hip replacement/revision, so spent alot of time in the operating room. The orthopedic attending explained every step of the operation to me, and made sure I saw what the three surgeons were doing. My patient's name was Angel, and he was 65 years old and retired. He had had a partial hip replacement two years ago, and had been in pain since, and this time the old prosthesis was removed and a completely new titanium hip inserted. I remembered how much I enjoyed surgery when I was a student, particularly orthopedic surgery. I had once been sure I was going to be a surgeon before I chose to pursue psychiatry, so being in the OR was comforting and inspiring. I was so very impressed wit...

Work at Tierra Nueva Hospital begins tomorrow. I have been avoiding trying out the bus system for all sorts of reasons, or at least I have presented several excuses. I had hoped that one of the Canadian women would offer to drive me, but I had not heard from anyone. When Gustavo called at 9 to tell me he would meet me at the Trole station near his home, I quickly agreed to meet him in an hour. I had no idea how long it would take me, and arrived a half hour late. I walked across Carolina Park to Diez de Agosto, found the Estadio Trole station, and waited for the C1 bus (there is a C2, C3, C4), couldn't see the number on the bus and jumped on the second one that arrived. It was packed of course, but the further south we went, the more people disembarked and a little past the Centro Historico, I found a seat and rested for the next few stops. Gustavo was waiting for me in the 'Recreo' Trole station. He lives just above the station, not far from CENIT, with his parents and hi...

Maya invited her friend Analia to our house for the day, but in usual Ecuadorian fashion, she arrived two hours after the appointed time. I learned from Analia that Maya never speaks any Spanish at school. I felt chastised when she asked me why Eric and I speak English with Maya when we clearly both speak Spanish and warned me that if we don't figure out a way to help Maya learn the language, she will miss out entirely on learning Spanish. It makes sense that Maya struggles with the other children when she refuses to communicate in their language.  Months ago when I was stressing about her language acquisition, the psychologists at the school advised me to back off and give her space and she will learn in her own time. It never occurred to me that she would not learn Spanish this year, naturally, fluidly, easily. My instinct was to push her more, expect more of her, add extra lessons, but I backed off instead, and she continues to refuse to speak anything but English (actually she ...

I wondered today what it would be like to live in Quito permanently. We spent the day in Cumbaya, quietly, peacefully. Maria, Hernan, and Gabriel live far removed from the bustle of Quito. Once the second gate to their property shuts, one is surrounded by trees and flowers and birds and grass. There is a lovely view of the Andes to the west in the distance and a closer view of the pool and the tennis courts.  I wonder if this is how we would live. I was so insistent on living in the city, close to the centre of the action, so that living any distance away was never a consideration. I wanted to experience the pulse of the city, and never imagined that I would want to hide away from the energy of city life. But there is much to admire and understand about the need for tranquility and security. My impression is that many who can leave the city and settle in the valley next door, where it is warmer and safer and somewhat removed from the life I have become accustomed to here. Maya was ...

I convinced myself to stay home this morning, and persevered with my medical Spanish textbook, compelled to practice practice practice, not to look outside at the sunshine and the blue skies and the busy streets below. I realized that my textbook was about the challenges of communicating with people of a different culture. All the medical terms were easy enough to understand and remember, but the real issue is how to be sensitive to the cultural differences and modify one's interviewing techniques and style as needed. I am not sure how significantly different history taking is for orthopedic surgeons who do not speak Spanish, but I found that the subject was more interesting than I expected. Three hours later, I am not sure that I will interview anyone any differently than I would anyway, but I have all sorts of medical terms in my head, and I hope I will remember them for next week. Whenever I tell anyone about my proposed work as a translator, the response is always surprise and ...